Minister Ng concludes productive visit to China

Four-city tour included participating in the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions and developing trade and export opportunities for Canadian businesses

HONG KONG, Sept. 21, 2018 /CNW/ - The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, wrapped up a successful visit to China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), where she represented Canada at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions and focused on developing export opportunities between China and Canada.

The Minister began her trip in Beijing, where she participated in a roundtable with the Canada China Business Council and the Mulan Club to discuss women entrepreneurship.

The Minister then travelled to Tianjin, where she toured the Sino-Canadian Eco-District, a $2.5-billion urban development project showcasing Canadian wood construction and energy-efficient building technologies. The following day, Minister Ng attended the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions, where she participated in sessions on gender inclusivity in the workplace and supporting female entrepreneurship.

Minister Ng then travelled to Shenzhen, where she toured the HAX Accelerator, one of the world's largest hardware accelerators and host to a number of Canadian start-ups—about 12 percent of its total. The Minister also held productive discussions with Chinese shipping firms on logistics and shipping goods between Canada and China, and she met with representatives from the CanCham PRD, a group of Canadian business people working in the Pearl River Delta region of China.

The Minister concluded her visit in the Hong Kong SAR, where she met with Nicholas Yang, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the Hong Kong SAR, to discuss further collaboration on and support for innovation and technology. The Minister also participated in a roundtable with Hong Kong investors, hosted by the Business Development Bank of Canada, on the many investment opportunities Canada offers.

Throughout her tour, Minister Ng held a series of meetings with Canadian start-ups, business owners and investors operating in China and the Hong Kong SAR, including Shenzhen Bay Technology Company, SF Express, Tencent and Horizons Ventures. By strengthening Canada-China business-to-business connections, the Government of Canada is helping Canadian businesses make inroads into an important global market.

Quotes

"The relationship between Canada and China, including Hong Kong, continues to strengthen and grow through mutual understanding and shared priorities. Our two countries are committed to supporting women entrepreneurs, creating well-paying jobs for the middle class and fostering opportunities for our small businesses to start up, scale up and reach new markets."
– The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion

"Expanding trade opportunities in thriving markets such as China are integral to the Government of Canada's trade diversification strategy. China is rapidly becoming the world's largest economy, and its market size and growth offers significant opportunities for Canadian businesses of all sizes. There has never been a better time for Canadian businesses to excel in the global marketplace."
– The Honourable Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification

Quick facts

• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) account for the vast majority of businesses in Canada.
• Exporting companies pay on average 14 percent higher wages than similar firms that do not export.
• The Government of Canada committed $75 million in Budget 2018 to build a stronger diplomatic and trade support presence in China and Asia.
• Launched in 2016, CanExport is a five-year, $50-million program that provides direct financial assistance to eligible Canadian SMEs that are seeking to develop new export opportunities and markets, especially high-growth emerging markets.
• China is Canada's second-largest single-nation trading partner. Two-way merchandise trade totalled more than $94.5 billion in 2017.
• The value of Canadian wood product exports to China increased to $1.7 billion in 2017, an amount that is 29 times higher than in 2002.
• In 2017, Hong Kong ranked as Canada's thirteenth largest market for merchandise exports, with Canada exporting $2.2 billion in merchandise to Hong Kong. Hong Kong currently ranks eighth as a global destination for Canadian exports of services, which totalled $2.1 billion in 2017. In 2017, two-way investment was worth around $25 billion.
• Hong Kong also has one of the largest Canadian communities abroad, including an estimated 300,000 Canadian citizens, approximately 175,000 graduates of Canadian institutions and 28 active Canadian university alumni associations.
• Approximately 1.8 million Canadians have Chinese heritage. Mandarin and Cantonese are Canada's third and fourth most widely spoken languages.
• In 2016, Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Li Keqiang committed to doubling two-way trade by 2025.
• In China in September 2016, Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Li announced the 2018 Canada-China Year of Tourism, an opportunity for Canada and China to deepen their strong people-to-people ties.

Associated links

• The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service
• Women Entrepreneurship Strategy
• Innovation and Skills Plan
• CanExport
• Accelerated Growth Service
• Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP)
• Innovative Solutions Canada
• Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative
• Canada China Year of Tourism 2018

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SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada